Mechanical felling wedges

[spuddog0507]

16 hours ago, drinksloe said:

Wot's it like on big hairy outsider Sitka or Norway thou, talking things with a 3 or 4ft+ butt and leaning and wieghted over the boundry??

 

I doubt it would go high enough to push them in.

 

Must admit had a swearing session today bloody jack popped out, ugly twin stemmer tree was well well over wind stopped and the high lift I had for back up just sort of got compressed in to the tree, bloody lucky the hinge held as came back with some force

Going to get a local welder to weld a better grippy plate that will change angles to

Your jack is best thing on the big edge trees, was a guy i worked with last year had a ratchet wedge which he used on the bigger inside trees (straight up and not weigted one side) then a combination of jack and wedges on the outsiders, i dont think we can get away from banging wedges in with sledge, after all its a method thats been used for many decades now and seems to work well,

[Gray git]

My opinion is if it's to the point your needing massive jack's on back learners to get them vertical before you can even think about tipping point you should be thinking winch as it's far to easy for a hinge to go and you've got bugger all control and are directly under the tree bent over not in your safety zone and not looking up.
I know it's not always financially viable but neither is a accident.

[The avantgardener]

I usually just get the harvester driver to give it a good push. ?

[slack ma girdle]

Did you get the 15t or 20t version wedge?
 
Wondering how much difference an extra 5t makes as just says ones for meduim tree and one is for large trees...
 
 
 
Which  dolmar is that?

It the 20 ton wedge, and i got it from Chris forestry.
https://www.chrisforestry.co.uk/store/Koller-Mechanical-Felling-Wedge-p136166425
The Dolmar is the 6100, fantastic saw.

[slack ma girdle]

My opinion is if it's to the point your needing massive jack's on back learners to get them vertical before you can even think about tipping point you should be thinking winch as it's far to easy for a hinge to go and you've got bugger all control and are directly under the tree bent over not in your safety zone and not looking up.
I know it's not always financially viable but neither is a accident.

Felling aid are just that, aids. Best to have a plan B

[Spruce Pirate]

I did a trial for Forest Machine Magazine with the Milwaukee Impact Wrench and the Forstreich Maschinenbau TR30 wedge last year.  Was impressed with it, much better than hammering wedges.  Lacks the lift and power of a jack, either a purpose built jack like the Treemans or a home modified job.  It's horses for courses, the mechanical wedge is very good, but not the be all and end all of putting trees over, it's not going to replace a jack or winch, but it is going to make your life much easier than hammering wedges.

 

I did try the ratchet type wedge as well, but not very impressed with it.  Build quality lower than the Forsteich version and turning the ratchet handle becomes very boring very quickly.  I didn't manage to try it in bigger trees, but I think it would struggle to put big spruce on the deck.  I might be wrong here, but I think trying to turn a ratchet by hand in bigger timber would be just as much of a pain as wedging it normally.

 

If I've done it right there should be a video of the TR30 trial below.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLqxmzD0a5s&list=PLIVu6yRYuJhWApPBp_MYrJwive2wTISCR&index=2

[The avantgardener]

23 minutes ago, Spruce Pirate said:

I might be wrong here, but I think trying to turn a ratchet by hand in bigger timber would be just as much of a pain as wedging it normally.

I found the ratchet wedges extremely slow and painful in big timber, the effort involved and time it took was far more than the effort needed with wedges. 

[bigtreedon]

[drinksloe]

Was there not a husky felling balloon type thing from the old days. 

70s or 80s I'm guessng

 

I think u attached it to the exhaust and it inflated and pushed tree over.

Must admit I'm too young to mind it but have heard odd tales from some off the old timers.

 

Lot off cash when still not going to do the worst off the trees.

Aye ur right Avant when they can reach them, but how long will that be allowed?? If it even is still allowed now??

 

 

To be honest the best thing is having the time and being able to pick the days u go to different jobs as wind is the best felling aid u can get, and free. 

A nice wee northly today, which is unusual for here, went to 2 different jobs to use it. Doesnae usually work like that thou.

[Stubby]

16 hours ago, drinksloe said:

Was there not a husky felling balloon type thing from the old days. 

70s or 80s I'm guessng

 

I think u attached it to the exhaust and it inflated and pushed tree over.

Must admit I'm too young to mind it but have heard odd tales from some off the old timers.

 

Lot off cash when still not going to do the worst off the trees.

Aye ur right Avant when they can reach them, but how long will that be allowed?? If it even is still allowed now??

 

 

To be honest the best thing is having the time and being able to pick the days u go to different jobs as wind is the best felling aid u can get, and free. 

A nice wee northly today, which is unusual for here, went to 2 different jobs to use it. Doesnae usually work like that thou.

I remember the blow up wedge jobbie but never used one .